Old Wu and Xu Long entered the central plaza of Tianyun City via the southeast and as soon as they stepped foot into the plaza Xu Long had to stop himself from exclaiming in surprise, it was virtually empty. He had spent a few days trying with every fiber of his being to enter this plaza, but was rebuffed time and time again by the plethora of people and the swirling mass of qi that they produced completely overwhelming his senses. Now, however, he was strolling through the plaza to a relatively small gathering of people that couldn’t number more than a thousand.
But the people were not what had Xu Long’s attention, indeed even Xu Xing had awoken from her slumber to look at it as well. There was a gargantuan spirit beast lazily standing to the side of the crowd. He could tell it was very powerful from where he was as even though it appeared to be attempting a similar restriction of its aura to Old Wu and the other higher realm cultivators that he had met, it didn’t appear to have the same level of control or perhaps it just didn’t feel the need to hold back as much. Xu Long wasn’t sure why but he got the impression that it was the latter and not the former.
To Xu Long’s perception the huge creature was very bright, but there was also a familiarity to the qi that quite a few cultivators he had just recently gotten to know also possessed, namely the Li mother and daughter and the two Bai girls. He had already deduced that they cultivated ice qi, still, there were marked differences between the four women and the spirit beast in front of him. The qi in front of him felt more wild and untamed, like a raging blizzard that was somehow contained in that one spot and yet the more he looked to more he could pick out patterns in the chaos.
“You should have a quick peek, Ming-Yue and Xui are a sight that should not be missed.”
Xu Long’s curiosity got the better of him almost immediately, and he activated his blindfold and saw the huge spirit beast that he had been analyzing the qi of was in fact a giant snow white owl, it was stunningly beautiful and regal looking as it stood there completely disregarding its surroundings. As Xu Long was taking it in he realized that Old Wu had said there were two of them, so he tried to casually move his head a little so he could scan more of the plaza without giving away that he could see. He found what he was looking for almost immediately, across the plaza on the western side was another grouping of people and sitting next to them was an enormous crane with a slight goldish hue to its feathers, possibly even bigger than the owl but that was hard to gauge as its legs were folded under its body.
Xu Long, having had a look, turned off his blindfold’s function lest he give away that he could see through it on his first day at the Academy, then turned his head towards Old Wu to ask a question.
“What’s up with the huge separation between the Academies in the plaza? It seems more like hatred than friendly rivalry.”
“It is both. All of the resources that the clans give to subsidize the two Academies are collected into one pool, each Academy is given 40 percent each and the final 20 is divided between the two of them based on the competition between them. It is completely understandable why they would encourage the rivalry as it provides incentives and motivation for everyone involved to push themselves, the issues arise mostly because any animosity between clans is often passed on to their children, who are more often than not in separate Academies because of said animosity. But the separation for events like this is largely because of the ones who are escorting their younger members, grudges that run deep can and have spilled over into large confrontations from incidental meetings like today.”
Xu Long didn’t have anything to say about what he heard, nothing that he would want the people he was walking towards to hear anyway, the whole thing sounded very infantile to him. So he kept his mouth shut and continued to analyze the qi of the huge owl whose name was apparently Ming-Yue. When they reached the gathering of people, Old Wu stopped on the outskirts of the group, apparently not interested in socializing with those who were escorting young members of their clan. Xu Long didn’t mind, he hadn’t spotted a certain young lady amongst the crowd just yet so he wasn’t in a rush to mingle.
As he stood there watching the qi of the people before him he felt that Xu Xing was getting restless and looking towards Ming-Yue constantly, it was clear that she was fascinated by the beast. Xu Long smiled and pet her on the head.
“Do you want to say hello, Xiao Xing?”
He got an enthusiastic yip in reply.
Old Wu didn’t seem to object so Xu Long just started walking towards the giant owl. His actions were not missed by the crowd of his fellow students or their minders, the three of them had already attracted the interest of quite a few people. A seemingly powerful old man and a blindfolded young man with a spirit fox in his robe was a bit of an oddity amongst the group to begin with, but now the blindfolded young man was walking directly towards the Guardian Protector of the Azure Dragon Academy without a care in the world.
Paying the stares he felt from the crowd no mind Xu Long came before the giant owl, he clasped his hands and bowed slightly. “Greetings Ming-Yue, it is an honor to meet you.”
Almost immediately Xu Long heard a rather feminine yet cold voice in his head. “Who told you that you could use my name, child?”
A little taken aback by the response he received, Xu Long took a moment before replying. “No one. But then again, what use is a name if people cannot call you by it?”
Xu Long felt the moment that the owl’s eyes fell on him from their previous indifferent wanderings, it was not unlike his experience with Xu Xing’s mother, but he was no longer a 6 year old boy.
“Typically, students of the Academy call me Guardian Protector, if they have the courage to talk to me at all.”
“Would you prefer that?”
“It is generally for the best to keep one's distance from the students, there are so many of them, so many names and yet so few of them will even reach Dao Seeking and earn a respectable lifespan.”
Xu Long had a smile on his face. “I understand, I am Xu Long and this is Xu Xing.”
Silence. It stretched on for more than a few moments. Then the owl finally responded. “Were you even listening to me?”
“I was, you were talking about most though, you don’t have to worry about me and Xiao Xing.”
He heard a chuckle in his mind in response. “I would think you at best overconfident and at worst delusional but for the fact that you arrived with Wu Zhong and he has a superlative track record regarding those he chooses to take under his wing.”
Xu Long’s gut reaction was to be a little put off by that answer, but he had to admit that without Old Wu he would certainly not be who he is today. “I suppose that is fair, I will just have to accept that judgment until others can base any confidence they have in me on my actions alone.”
“I wait with bated breath, child.”
Even though he could hear the sarcasm dripping off that statement, Xu Long chose to ignore it and take it at face value, so he plowed on. “I am curious about something. I hope you will indulge me. If you are so indifferent to the constant stream of new students, why do you agree to provide transport to them?”
“It is an infrequent occurrence, and is largely an excuse for Xui and I to catch up.”
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Xu Long thought about the crane sitting at the western end of the plaza and guessed that it must be possible for them to communicate across that distance, he then realized what the owl was subtly hinting at. Giving the large owl an apologetic smile. “My apologies for interrupting you, Xiao Xing and I just wanted to introduce ourselves and say hello, we will leave you to it, I appreciate you taking the time.”
“That is quite alright child, just don’t make a habit of it.”
Xu Xing gave a happy yip as her farewell. Just when Xu Long was about to turn and head back in Old Wu’s direction, he felt someone he knew quite well arriving at the edge of his perception, so he turned towards her instead.
Bai Mei was in a state of shock as she approached the enrollment gathering and saw Xu Long casually talking to the famously reticent Guardian Protector of the Azure Dragon Academy like it was nothing. Then when he turned on a dime and headed straight for her, she felt the guardian turn its gaze in her direction and nearly stumbled, completely caught off guard by its attention. She took a steadying breath and continued walking, determined not to put herself in another situation that would require her to make a run for it like the day before.
The Guardian Protector’s interest in her was luckily fleeting and she felt the gaze leave her before she had even taken her next step. By the time that she was face to face with Xu Long the feeling of the owl’s gaze was all but forgotten.
“Why were you talking to the Guardian Protector?”
“Xu Xing and I were saying hello…”
Bai Mei rubbed her forehead in exasperation. “How is it you always manage to say the most outrageous things as if they are completely reasonable?”
Xu Long smiled at her, glad that they seemed to have picked up where they left off before she ran out of the restaurant as quickly as she could. “I’m not sure, I guess I am just extraordinary.”
Before Bai Mei could retort, her thoughts were interrupted by a somewhat loud yip demanding attention, she looked down at the spirit fox sitting in the front of Xu Long’s robes and saw the rather disgruntled face that she was making.
“I’m sorry Xu Xing, may I?” She held out her hands and looked at Xu Long, who smiled at her and handed over the demanding fox who seemed to want to make up for lost pets from the day before.
As Bai Mei was holding and petting Xu Xing with a big grin on her face she was interrupted by a slight cough from behind her. Both her and Xu Long looked at the young woman and Bai Mei asked. “Yes, Big Sister Yue?”
“As important as your petting of the spirit fox is, you have yet to actually enroll, Little Sister.”
Rather than Bai Mei answering, it was Xu Long who interjected. “We have to do that?”
Bai Yue looked at Xu Long, completely expressionless. “Of course.”
Xu Long found it difficult to get a read on this woman, he wasn’t entirely sure if she disliked him in particular or perhaps just all young men who talked to Bai Mei, then again she gave so little away that he wasn’t entirely sure if she disliked him at all. Unsure how to navigate the woman he decided pretending there wasn’t an issue was for the best.
He looked back towards Bai Mei. “Shall we then?”
Bai Mei quickly realized that going together to enroll would involve her having to interact with Old Wu, something she was hoping to avoid after yesterday's fiasco. “You can go on ahead.”
“Alright, come on Xiao Xing.”
Bai Mei held the spirit fox tighter. “She can stay with me.”
Xu Long’s face changed to a serious one. “Not if you're not coming with me. She doesn’t leave my side.”
Bai Mei frowned at him. “You don’t trust me?”
“I do, but that is immaterial. I told you that her circumstances are special when we first met. She doesn’t leave my side.”
Bai Mei could see that he was being serious, and now that she thought about it he did almost immediately decapitate Luo Jian when he made a move against Xu Xing, if that wasn’t proof enough of how seriously he took her safety she wasn’t sure what would. Between having to face Old Wu and handing back Xu Xing her decision turned out to be rather simple.
“Fine, let's enroll together then.”
Xu Long smirked, “I think that you may be more addicted to petting Xiao Xing than she is to getting pets.” His comment was immediately met with a sharp yip of rebuke, to which he laughed. “My mistake Xiao Xing, your love of pets trumps all.”
Shaking his head at the small spirit foxes antics Xu Long started walking over to Old Wu who he imagined knew the procedure and what was needed, the Bai girls following not far behind. They quickly reached the placid looking old man who was standing in the same place that Xu Long had left him, standing there with his eyes closed.
“Hey Old Wu, apparently we have to actually enroll.”
The old man slightly opened his eyes and smirked at him. “I was just waiting for you to finish being distracted by Guardian Protectors and pretty girls.”
Xu Long smiled at his teasing. “Can you blame me? Both of those sound infinitely more interesting than whatever formalities this enrolling entails.”
Old Wu laughed. “Can’t argue with you there kid.” He then looked in Bai girls direction. “Ladies, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”
They both bowed, Bai Yue a look of utmost respect and adoration on her face, Bia Mei a slight blush and a look of remembered embarrassment.
“Elder Wu”
“Elder”
Old Wu paused for a second. “What is it going to take for the two of you to start calling me Old Wu?” Before either of them could stumble out an answer, Old Wu gave up and waved his hand. “Nevermind, call me what you like, just not that ridiculous title that people like to throw around please.”
He then started leading the four of them towards an ornate looking desk with a single young man sitting behind it. There was a crowd that was congregating to the tables right but there didn’t appear to be a line of any sort, presumably the process was fairly straightforward and not time consuming.
When they arrived at the table Old Wu gestured to the Bai girls. “Ladies.”
Bai Yue smiled. “Thank you, Old Wu.”
He smiled back at her, happy that he had finally gotten through to her.
Old Wu and Xu Long stood to the side while Bai Yue produced a small jade token with a small but intricate formation on the face to the stunned looking young man who was clearly more than a little infatuated by the two women. He snapped out of it after a second of Bai Yue holding the token out to him, her face starting to look rather annoyed at the young man. Once he got moving again he took the token and placed it over a much larger jade tablet that was covered in a rather elaborate formation, as the two pieces made contact there was a brief flash and the token that Bai Yue produced was joined by a circular medallion of gold. The young man placed the jade token into a bag to his side and then handed the golden medallion to Bai Mei.
“Welcome to the Azure Dragon Academy Miss Bai. Please make sure to place your qi into your Academy insignia.”
Bai Mei, more than a little put off by how the young man was looking at her, simply nodded as she took the medallion from his outstretched hand and then walked over to Xu Long's side, not wanting to separate him and Xu Xing after their previous discussion.
Unbeknownst to Xu Long but very apparent to Old Wu who was watching the whole thing the young man had quite the vicious look flash through his eyes after being snubbed by Bai Mei and then watching her walk straight to the side of another man.
“Come on kid.”
Xu Long, who had been concentrating on his perception of the gathering of quite a high number of impressively strong people the whole time simply nodded and followed the old man. When they arrived in front of the table, Old Wu produced a small slip of paper and held it out to the young man, who simply looked at him, not reaching out to grab it in the slightest.
“This is the enrollment for the Azure Dragon Academy, only those with a valid enrollment token can even be in the plaza at this time, either produce one or I’m going to have to ask you to leave immediately?”
Old Wu, a placid look on his face simply replied with, “read it.”
The young man refused to even take the slip of paper. “If you don’t produce a token I am going to have to ask the Guardian Protector to eject you from the plaza.”
“You refuse to read it?”
The young man just sat there not saying a word so Old Wu sighed and then held out his other hand flat and produced a small blue bird from his qi that had occasional sparks of lightning flowing over it which quickly took flight and headed off at great speed.